According to Senior Advisor to the Turkish Prime Minister Mehmet Akarca, after the recent events in Turkey the European direction has lost popularity

ANKARA, October 12. /TASS/. Turkey does not intend to call off the EU membership bid but due the dire state of the European economy, the EU accession may seem unreasonable, Senior Advisor to the Turkish Prime Minister Mehmet Akarca told Russian journalists on Wednesday.

"Becoming an EU member or building a closer relationship with the EU is not a priority task for Turkey at the moment," he said. "The Turkish people have experienced great upheavals lately. We now know who our true friend and partner is, and who prefers to safeguard their own interests."

According to Akarca, after the recent events in Turkey, the European direction has lost popularity, however "it would be an overly politicized and too emotional decision to refuse to cooperate with the European Union."

"Politics is a sphere of pragmatic thinking," he noted. "For that reason and taking into account the dire state of the European economy, the question arises as to whether it is reasonable to become a member of the European Union while it is facing a crisis."

Moscow could consider the possibility of supplying air defense systems to Turkey if Ankara raises the issue, the Kremlin spokesman said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed the possibility of supplying various types of air defense systems to Turkey, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday.

"Indeed, issues related to military and technical cooperation were in the agenda of Putin's contacts with Erdogan. Various air defense systems have been mentioned, which, if Turkey wishes, Russia could consider supplying in different variations," Peskov told reporters. "It is a purely commercial matter, a very sensitive area of cooperation," he clarified.

Airman wrote:Moscow could consider the possibility of supplying air defense systems to Turkey if Ankara raises the issue, the Kremlin spokesman said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed the possibility of supplying various types of air defense systems to Turkey, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday.

"Indeed, issues related to military and technical cooperation were in the agenda of Putin's contacts with Erdogan. Various air defense systems have been mentioned, which, if Turkey wishes, Russia could consider supplying in different variations," Peskov told reporters. "It is a purely commercial matter, a very sensitive area of cooperation," he clarified.

Airman wrote:Moscow could consider the possibility of supplying air defense systems to Turkey if Ankara raises the issue, the Kremlin spokesman said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed the possibility of supplying various types of air defense systems to Turkey, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday.

"Indeed, issues related to military and technical cooperation were in the agenda of Putin's contacts with Erdogan. Various air defense systems have been mentioned, which, if Turkey wishes, Russia could consider supplying in different variations," Peskov told reporters. "It is a purely commercial matter, a very sensitive area of cooperation," he clarified.

Why? Russia offered us S-300VM a severel years ago but Turkey selected HQ-9 and project cancelled. Project name is T- LORAMIDS (Turkish Long Range Air and Missile Defence System). I think a lot people heard this project.

Don't worry, it will be the S-300T version. The one that goes blind when it detects Russian IFF.

NATO and the US will eventually get their hands on russian air defence systems at some stage... selling products to Turkey will invest more money into the further development of such systems and will likely encourage other countries to purchase similar systems.

The systems being sold could be two generations behind what the Russians are using themselves and still be very capable systems that will serve Turkey well... and cost effectively.

They already sold an S-300V system to the US, though it was not complete in the 1990s... the money generated allowed the company to continue development and led to the S-300VM being created.

Export production allows much larger profit margins compared with domestic production so more can be done even with rather smaller orders.

Russia is due to conduct an unarmed observation flight over Turkish territory following the normalization of relations between the two countries, a Turkish diplomatic source said Oct. 24.

The surveillance flights scheduled for this week are part of the 1992 Open Skies Agreement under the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media.

Turkey has already performed three observation flights over Russia this year, the last one in September, the source added.

The flights over Turkey will be the first ones to come amid normalized relations between the two countries, which were embroiled in conflict over the shooting down of a Russian warplane in November 2015. Turkey says the jet violated Turkish airspace along the Syrian border but Russia has denied this.

A previously agreed program of flights scheduled for early February failed to take place due to a lack of agreement on the mission plan, according to the Turkish Foreign Ministry.

On Nov. 24, 2015, Turkish F-16 fighters on aerial patrol intercepted and shot down a Russian SU-24 after it ignored warnings and crossed into Turkish airspace, leading to heightened tension between Moscow and Ankara.

The issue seemed largely resolved on June 29 through a letter by the Turkish president to his Russian counterpart and subsequent telephone calls between the countries’ leaders.

The Open Skies Agreement was signed on March 24, 1992, in Helsinki. Turkey became one of the 34 state parties to the treaty after signing it in 1994.

The widow of the Russian Su-24 pilot, downed by the Turkish Air Force in Syria in November 2015, said she was ready to meet the Turkish foreign minister who had said he was ready to personally apologize to her.

"Despite the very grievous times for our family, we will arrive in Moscow to attend this meeting," Elena Peshkova said Thursday.

On November 2, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said he was ready to personally apologize to Oleg Peshkov's widow. A Turkish F-16 fighter shot down the Russian Su-24 combat jet near the Turkish border in Syria on November 24, 2015. Both pilots ejected. One of them was saved, but Oleg Peskov was killed by militants' fire. In the course of the rescue operation, a Russian marine was also killed.

The aircraft was carrying out anti-terrorist operations in Syria. The incident caused a deterioration of relations between Ankara and Moscow, with Russian President Vladimir Putin calling it "a stab in the back."

Russia has repeatedly said that Turkey should apologize for downing the plane and cover any material losses to the country and the pilot's family, as well as punish those responsible for the incident. On June 27, the Kremlin's press office published a statement, in which it announced that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had sent a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin to apologize for the November 2015 incident.

Leader of Russia’s Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov asked Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to extradite three militants who had earlier operated in the southern Russian region, the website of the Chechen leader said on Saturday. "I address you with a strong request to extradite the bandits. That would be very important for bringing terrorists to trial and bringing [them] to accountability prescribed by law," Kadyrov said.

Turkey could not possibly respect the rights of people to vote for their own destiny and independence... how would they stand if the PKK then demanded the same rights...

No, being a part of NATO Turkey must stand by the democratic principles... which if you can understand then you are a better man than I.

Suffice to say that the people of South Ossetia and Abkhazia and the Crimea and Guam and the Marshall Islands should not get a say in their soverignty, while the people of Northern Ireland and the Falklands Islands should be able to hold territory that obviously should belong to a nearby neighbour... you see...

They are unique cases where the normal rules of democracy and self determination don't apply.

Turkey could not possibly respect the rights of people to vote for their own destiny and independence... how would they stand if the PKK then demanded the same rights...

No, being a part of NATO Turkey must stand by the democratic principles... which if you can understand then you are a better man than I.

Suffice to say that the people of South Ossetia and Abkhazia and the Crimea and Guam and the Marshall Islands should not get a say in their soverignty, while the people of Northern Ireland and the Falklands Islands should be able to hold territory that obviously should belong to a nearby neighbour... you see...

They are unique cases where the normal rules of democracy and self determination don't apply.

As said in the other part of the comment, that you included not in the quote, there is not a NATO rule about recognition or not. And I mentioned the example of Kosovo, which is not recognized by NATO members like Romania, Slovakia and others.

If Turkey does not recognize Crimea is the fault of Turkey. You said it is because of the PKK and the Kurds demanding the same. Well this was not a problem for Turkey in the case of Kosovo. Turkey was the 6th country recognizing Kosovo, they did it even before the US and the UK.

Turkey will speak with all interested parties, including Russia, over its plans to develop a long-range missile defense system, a top defense official said on Nov. 8.

NATO member Turkey last year cancelled a $3.4 billion tender for such a system, after it had been provisionally awarded to China, a move that had stirred concern from the United States and other Western allies.

İsmail Demir, Turkey’s undersecretary for defense industries, told a news conference in Ankara that Turkey was willing to speak any interested parties, including Russia and previous bidders.

He also said Turkey was in the final stages of evaluating a renewed offer from automotive manufacturer Otokar for its Altay tank project.

As said in the other part of the comment, that you included not in the quote, there is not a NATO rule about recognition or not. And I mentioned the example of Kosovo, which is not recognized by NATO members like Romania, Slovakia and others.

If Turkey does not recognize Crimea is the fault of Turkey. You said it is because of the PKK and the Kurds demanding the same. Well this was not a problem for Turkey in the case of Kosovo. Turkey was the 6th country recognizing Kosovo, they did it even before the US and the UK.

Yes, the two faced nature of NATO... they wont recognise the independence of the Crimea or South Ossetia or Abkazia or Kurds, but will recognise the independence of Albanians in Serbia (Kosovo).

Just like Albanians in Kosovo deserve freedom of oppression of Serbs, but Serbs in Kosovo have no rights to freedom of oppression by Albanians in Kosovo or in Bosnia for that matter.

Airman wrote:Moscow could consider the possibility of supplying air defense systems to Turkey if Ankara raises the issue, the Kremlin spokesman said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed the possibility of supplying various types of air defense systems to Turkey, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday.

No, just no.

and your no prevails over Putin´s yes?

GarryB wrote:

As said in the other part of the comment, that you included not in the quote, there is not a NATO rule about recognition or not. And I mentioned the example of Kosovo, which is not recognized by NATO members like Romania, Slovakia and others.

If Turkey does not recognize Crimea is the fault of Turkey. You said it is because of the PKK and the Kurds demanding the same. Well this was not a problem for Turkey in the case of Kosovo. Turkey was the 6th country recognizing Kosovo, they did it even before the US and the UK.

Yes, the two faced nature of NATO... they wont recognise the independence of the Crimea or South Ossetia or Abkazia or Kurds, but will recognise the independence of Albanians in Serbia (Kosovo).

Just like Albanians in Kosovo deserve freedom of oppression of Serbs, but Serbs in Kosovo have no rights to freedom of oppression by Albanians in Kosovo or in Bosnia for that matter.

You do not get it, killing Serbs or Russians is progress and western values. And when Serbs and Russians start to fight not to be slaughtered it is crimesagainst humanity or a best hybrid war

but this (if true would be a geopolitical earthquake. Turkey in SCO instead of NATO/EU ooooooooooooooo this would hurt west and their EE doggies

Turkey was invited to join the SCO

The Ministry of foreign Affairs of the people's Republic of China announced that the Shanghai cooperation organization is willing to consider Turkey's request for accession.It was a response to the statement made by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in an interview to the program "60 minutes." The Turkish leader expressed disappointment in the political course of the United States, which, according to Erdogan, were responsible for the deterioration of bilateral relations.

Erdogan listed the decisions that had a negative impact on these relations. We are talking primarily about supporting Kurdish militants in Syria and Iraq and the refusal to issue a theologian Fethullah Gulen, whom Turkey considers the organizer of the coup attempt on July 13.

In response, the press service of the foreign Ministry of China said that Turkey's joining the SCO would strengthen significantly the block. Recall that the organization includes Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

Turkey – a member of NATO, and it is unclear whether it can be in two blocks at a time. Allies on the NATO do not hide criticism in connection with the regime of Erdogan restriction of civil liberties after the suppression of the rebellion.

Turkey – a member of NATO, and it is unclear whether it can be in two blocks at a time. Allies on the NATO do not hide criticism in connection with the regime of Erdogan restriction of civil liberties after the suppression of the rebellion.

Amusing the Americans have the balls to criticise anyone as they eavesdrop on anyone and fund terrorists and use drones to kill in foreign countries without a declaration of war but an ally restricting civil liberties is bad... funny they don't say much when Saudi arabia or qatar restrict civil liberties in their countries... I guess countries get criticised when it suits...

Turkey – a member of NATO, and it is unclear whether it can be in two blocks at a time. Allies on the NATO do not hide criticism in connection with the regime of Erdogan restriction of civil liberties after the suppression of the rebellion.

Amusing the Americans have the balls to criticise anyone as they eavesdrop on anyone and fund terrorists and use drones to kill in foreign countries without a declaration of war but an ally restricting civil liberties is bad... funny they don't say much when Saudi arabia or qatar restrict civil liberties in their countries... I guess countries get criticised when it suits...

we need to add: US sponsored coup against Erdogan to keep Russian gas pipes out form Europe

BTW Original text was from Israeli source but difference is negligible wrt liberties

Turkey to assume Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s Energy Club term presidency

Turkey will chair the Energy Club of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in 2017, becoming the first non-SCO country to hold its term presidency, according to officials from the Energy Ministry.

In a meeting on Nov. 22, a proposal from Ankara to pave the way for non-SCO member countries to assume the term presidency of the Energy Club was accepted, officials said.

Earlier, the term presidency of the Energy Club had only been assumed by members of the SCO using the Russian Cyrillic script alphabet.

The move comes after President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan suggested the possibility of SCO membership as an alternative to EU membership for Turkey.

Turkey is currently a “dialogue partner” of the SCO, and is a member of the SCO Energy Club along with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, India, Iran, Mongolia, Pakistan, Belarus and Sri Lanka.

The Energy Ministry will be the general secretary of the Energy Club for one year of time.

The Energy Club seeks to resolve issues as:

• Coordinating energy strategies and long-term programs for development of SCO member states, observers and their partners.

AlfaT8 wrote:The F, what is China thinking, right now Turkey is a frickin time bomb with a broken timer (visually), nobody knows when it's gonna blow.

Turkey has been mentioning in last couple of weeks that they want to move out from trying to join EU and join the SCO with Russia and China (Erdogan specifically mentioned the two countries) because it knows just as well as the rest of us that the EU is a sinking ship.